Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote a letter to the Sheriff of Dallas County. In the letter, Abbott said that Texas will no longer tolerate sanctuary city policies.

Governor Greg Abbott today issued a letter calling on Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez to reverse her unilaterally enacted policy of refusing to automatically detain all criminal immigrants pursuant to the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) federal detainer program, which is designed to prevent dangerous criminals from being released into communities.

"'Sanctuary City' policies like those promoted by your recent decision to implement your own case-by-case immigrant detention plan will no longer be tolerated in Texas," Governor Abbott said in the letter to Sheriff Valdez. "Your decision to not fully honor ICE's requests to detain criminal immigrants poses a serious danger to Texans. These detainers provide ICE with the critical notice and time it needs to take incarcerated immigrants into federal custody."

Immigration detainers issued by ICE merely constitute a request that the Dallas County Sheriff’s office provide federal immigration authorities an opportunity to collect and remove criminal immigrants in their custody before they are released – a longstanding policy honored by the Dallas County Sheriff’s office up until Sheriff Valdez's decision.

"Your refusal to fully participate in a federal law enforcement program intended to keep dangerous criminals off the streets leaves the State no choice but to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our fellow Texans," Governor Abbott continued. "Now more than ever, it is essential that state, federal, and local law enforcement work collaboratively to protect our fellow Texans and to ensure that our laws are upheld, not disregarded."

Governor Abbott included the following actions the State could take to combat policies like those promoted by Sheriff Valdez:

Passing laws that prohibit any policy or action that promotes sanctuary to people in this state illegally.

Enacting laws that make it illegal for a Sheriff's Department to not honor a federal immigration detainer request.

Evaluating the extent to which local taxpayers should foot the bill for local decisions that increase costs for Texas' health and education systems.

Amending the Tort Claims Act to ensure counties are fully financially responsible for the actions of any illegal immigrants who are released because the county's Sheriff failed to honor an ICE detainer request.

You can read Abbott's full letter here. I applaud Abbott for his letter to the Sheriff as too many cities in Texas are putting citizens as risk by adopting the sanctuary city policy.

Governor Abbott will join me today at 9am to discuss this issue and what the State of Texas will do moving forward. Remember, Texas State Senator Charles Perry attempted to pass a bill in the past legislative session that would have banned sanctuary cities, but the bill died.

Carson Surges in Iowa

According to The Hill, Ben Carson is surging in Iowa as more and more Republicans like not only what he says, but they like him as well.

Ben Carson has overtaken Donald Trump in Iowa, surging to a 14-point lead, according to a new poll.

A Monmouth University survey released on Monday found Carson taking 32 percent support in Iowa, followed by Trump at 18 percent.

That’s a 9-point gain for Carson from the same poll in late August, while Trump has fallen five points in that time.

The poll found Carson with the best favorability rating in the field, with an astounding 84 percent of Iowa Republicans having a positive view of him, compared to only 7 percent who view him negatively.

Trump’s favorability rating is at 53 percent positive and 38 percent negative. His favorability rating is essentially unchanged from late August, although the percentage of those who view him unfavorably has increased by 5 points in that time.

Trump has led in nearly every poll of Iowa since early August, but the Monmouth survey is the third recent poll to show Carson with a healthy lead over the field in the Hawkeye State.

That's good news for Carson as well as Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio who each received 10% in this poll. Trump is starting to crumble in Iowa right now but not nationally. Wednesday's debate could change the direction of Iowa though which is something that many of the candidates are hoping for.